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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Ethiopian shop owners shot dead in KZN

Distraught relatives of Getechaw Paulos and Deselegn Daniel in the shop in which they were killed.

Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Safety and Community Liaison MEC Willies Mchunu has slammed the spate of attacks and killings of foreigners in the province after two Ethiopians were shot dead in their shop in Inchanga on Monday.

“We are extremely disappointed and angered by these latest murders.

“They come at a time when we were convinced that we were making progress in amicably resolving these attacks,” said Mchunu.

Shop owners Getechaw Paulos, 32, and Deselegn Daniel, 30, were both shot in the head.

A relative, Eshetu Zewde, said it had been three months since the two had started working, and he was shocked because they were liked.

“They (the attackers) took cigarettes, airtime vouchers, a phone and their Nissan 1400 bakkie. My brother phoned me during the day and said there was someone swearing at him because he could not give him a job,” Zewde said. “I know the people from this area. They took advantage of my brother because he had just arrived.”

On Tuesday, the community lamented what they called “our loss”. Khanyisile Ngubane said they got along with their “good neighbours”.

“When you were short, they would give you what you need from the shop without asking for an explanation. When you needed something and it was not there, they would make sure you got it the next day.”

Police spokesman Thulani Zwane said two murder cases and a case of robbery were being investigated.